Inside the New York Yankees clubhouse with MLB.com beat writer Bryan Hoch.

Shelley Duncan joining Yankees in Chicago

Via Chad Jennings, Shelley Duncan will get another chance in the big leagues and has been summoned to Chicago for tonight’s game. There’s the right-handed bat the Yankees are looking to have in stock as the White Sox hurl three straight lefties at them for the rest of the weekend.

Here are Duncan’s stats this season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

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22 Comments

How many runs is this frigging pitcher going to give up before Girardi pulls him. He is downright useless and shouldn’t be the # 5 starter. In fact he should be in the minors. Man, I can’t believe that we didn’t trade for a starter and thought this guy was going to do it for us. Man this is unbelievable. I’m so mad I could spit nails. Why did management think that Mitre was going to be a bona fide 5th starter. Come on, wake up Cashman before it’s too late. We can’t handle good hitting clubs like the White Sox and the Red Sox and the Angels. They kill our pitching and if we can’t beat these teams we’ll never get to the World Series. Mitre has pitched the full count to almost every batter tonight.

Great. Mitre is useless as a starter. The Yankees didn’t trade for a starter and are now stuck with Mitre who isn’t going to get it done. What a lousy first two innings. Cashman has got to do something. They’re going to have to start Hughes and put Mitre in the bull pen. Hughes is the only reliable pitcher that can give them multiple innings. If the Yankees lose tonight and the Sox win we’re down to 1 and 1/2 games ahead. This series could turn the whole thing around and by the time they’re finished the Sox could be in the lead again. Posada has been useless tonight grounding out, hitting into DP. This started off well in the Yankees first but has gone down hill from there. It could be a long and frustrating night for Yankees fans.

Couldn´t agree more with all of you. The other day, a fan from Boston told me that Epstein had a clear strategic goal: improve the team but at the same time not giving out their crown jewels: Buccholz, Lars Anderson, Bard. Well, he certainly improved the team, got rid of Julio Lugo, and the only meaningful player he had to give was a reliever, Justin Masterson (who could be a starter, but he is no Lester or Buccholz).

Bottomline, all main contenders -even the Marlins!!!- got better, and improved… And the Yanks couldn´t even get Bannister??? I understand that to get Lee, or Halladay, you would have to give A LOT, but look at what Boston gave for Martinez, or even the Phillies for Lee (the Phillies´ GM managed to keep both his main rookie pitchers!). And St. Louis, and the Dodgers, and the Giants, and Detroit, and even the White Sox got Peavy…Apparently Crashman is the only one that is treated like a moron by his colleagues during negotiations….

We did the Shelley Duncan experiment last year. He game up and hit bombs for the first several games and then bombed out and was sent back to the minors. What has he learned since last year? Is he going to really improve the team and where is he going to play? If Girardi didn’t use Hinske with his experience why have they brought Duncan up again? I guess if you don’t trade for much at the trade deadline you have to look like you’re bettering the team by bringing up minor leaguers.

What’s the point in trading for utility players like Hinske and Hairston and then not use them? How many games has Hinske played in since he was traded to the Yankees? You can’t wait for injuries to put good players into the game. They need to be used to give Swisher and Damon and ARod and Tex a rest once in a while. The way ARod has been fielding and hitting lately I think he needs another rest! Anyway nevous about Mitre starting tonight. The Yankees have already lost one game in this series. I hope he can get it done but not surprised if he doesn’t. We can’t afford to lose 2 or 3 games in a row with the Sox and Rays winning. And the Sox have just made themselves a better team with the trades so it’s going to be a dog fight.

If that were the case Robert I’d agree with the decision. However, Crashman knows that with Master Wang out for 12 months there is a HUGE hole in the #5 slot. You have to get to the playoffs first and again I am not sure Mitre fills that slot. I hope I am wrong but it just appears to me that once again this GM is clueless.

Wait a minute… The Red Sox go out and trade for Victor Martinez, then upgrade their defense by trading LaRoche for Kotchmann, and all the Yankees do is make a trade for their utility spot? Granted this probably means the end of Cody Ransom’s tenure in pinstripes (HOPEFULLY and THANK GOD), but what about the pitching staff? The Yankees needed an upgrade in their rotation, and Bannister would’ve definitely provided that. They asked the Royals for $650k to help for Bannister… SERIOUSLY?!?! Make the trade to upgrade your team, on a spot that NEEDS to be upgraded. The Yankees shy away from a deal to make their team arguably the best in the game, and they stopped because of $650k? LOLOLOL.. I can’t believe the Yankees stood by and watched as all of the other playoff contenders and serious World Series contenders improved their teams, while the Yankees call up Shelley Duncan, shove Sergio Mitre into the starting rotation and trade for a bench player in Jerry Hairston Jr. (nothing against him, he’ll definitely do well in a reserve role for the Yankees in my opinion).

Wait a minute… The Red Sox go out and trade for Victor Martinez, then upgrade their defense by trading LaRoche for Kotchmann, and all the Yankees do is make a trade for their utility spot? Granted this probably means the end of Cody Ransom’s tenure in pinstripes (HOPEFULLY and THANK GOD), but what about the pitching staff? The Yankees needed an upgrade in their rotation, and Bannister would’ve definitely provided that. They asked the Royals for $650k to help for Bannister… SERIOUSLY?!?! Make the trade to upgrade your team, on a spot that NEEDS to be upgraded. The Yankees shy away from a deal to make their team arguably the best in the game, and they stopped because of $650k? LOLOLOL.. I can’t believe the Yankees stood by and watched as all of the other playoff contenders and serious World Series contenders improved their teams, while the Yankees call up Shelley Duncan, shove Sergio Mitre into the starting rotation and trade for a bench player in Jerry Hairston Jr. (nothing against him, he’ll definitely do well in a reserve role for the Yankees in my opinion).

The pickup of Hairston jr. might help in the utility department and he is an experienced player but the Yankees did not solve the problem with their 5th starter slot. partyboy I respectfully disagree I am not sold on Mitre in that slot. Granted Washburn would have cost too much but Bannister should have been an option. If 650 thousand dollars was all it took than the Yankees GM is trying to win on the cheap. The sox have improved themselves via the Martinez and Kotchman trades. Their lineup has improved but Crashman did NOT improve the Yankee starting staff and that was the biggest need.

The pickup of Hairston jr. might help in the utility department and he is an experienced player but the Yankees did not solve the problem with their 5th starter slot. partyboy I respectfully disagree I am not sold on Mitre in that slot. Granted Washburn would have cost too much but Bannister should have been an option. If 650 thousand dollars was all it took than the Yankees GM is trying to win on the cheap. The sox have improved themselves via the Martinez and Kotchman trades. Their lineup has improved but Crashman did NOT improve the Yankee starting staff and that was the biggest need.

The pickup of Hairston jr. might help in the utility department and he is an experienced player but the Yankees did not solve the problem with their 5th starter slot. partyboy I respectfully disagree I am not sold on Mitre in that slot. Granted Washburn would have cost too much but Bannister should have been an option. If 650 thousand dollars was all it took than the Yankees GM is trying to win on the cheap. The sox have improved themselves via the Martinez and Kotchman trades. Their lineup has improved but Crashman did NOT improve the Yankee starting staff and that was the biggest need.

What do the Yankees really need to add, they acquired Jerry Harriston Jr. to fill in the CF/LF and UTL spots, hopefully stopping Cody Ransom’s playing days in Pinstripes, they’re set at C,1B,2B,3B,SS the outfield is bettered by Hinske and JHjr. and the bullpen is very good with Hughes, Aceves and Mo etc. I don’t dislike Mitre he’s serviceable as a #5, would have liked to have gotten Bannister or Washburn but that was going to cost us AJax or Romain plus. Plus the Vmart move was a move the Red Sox had to do to counter us getting Teix, we do not need to counter everything the Sox do, that’s what gets us in trouble. Plus it cost the Sox a lot cos they lose Masterson who was one of their top bullpen guys.

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